Unbreaking American Healthcare
I learned writing here that unbreaking American healthcare [sick care] requires unbreaking our politics too. And to do that we must get corruption out. While difficult, the benefits of solving the corruption crisis would be immense—well over $2 trillion per year just in healthcare. Today’s post is inspired by actress Jennifer Lawrence and The Brennan Center for Justice.
As Jennifer says, “We are witnessing a total political system failure in America.” The federal government is ours, and we pay for it, so it needs to work for all of us. But right now it doesn’t. It really doesn’t. It’s no wonder so many voters have tuned out. They’re overwhelmed by everything that’s wrong with politics. I’m not talking about Democrats versus Republicans but the flaws in our system regardless of which party is in power.
Actress Jennifer Lawrence
In “Unbreaking America: Solving the Corruption Crisis” (12.5 min), actress Jennifer Lawrence speaks directly to frustrated, disillusioned, and disconnected voters. She doesn’t lecture or take sides but asks a simpler question: why does it feel like no matter who we vote for, nothing really changes?
Lawrence breaks down—clearly and visually—how the political system actually works, why ordinary voters have so little influence, and how a small group of powerful interests ended up calling the shots. More importantly, she shows that this is about a system that’s broken—and how regular people can fix it. If you’ve ever felt that politics isn’t worth your time, this speech may change your mind, because it explains why your voice hasn’t mattered—and how it can again.
Ben & Jerry’s Ben Cohen
In a related video (2:24), Ben Cohen, co-Founder of Ben & Jerry’s, uses BB’s to demonstrate how much money corporations spend to influence our elections compared to regular people.
Two Related Articles of my own
AMERICA BROKEN is my own critique of our nation’s version of Capitalism, Healthcare, and Politics. It speaks to corporate greed and the perverse incentive to prioritize profits over people.
I fear that without serious reforms, those incentives and the incredibly high ROI of influence investments could lead to the world’s first trillion dollar election. The medical industrial complex alone, fighting to prevent reforms that could cut healthcare costs in half to match spending of other rich nations, could justify investing $1 trillion in one election cycle to avoid losing over $2+ trillion per year in revenue.
